«Field Report 1: Social Identity» - Great Essay Sample

1. The problem of social identity becomes one of the central in the discourse of modernism and postmodernism. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of identity in the context of globalization and traditional societies. This paper will examine one of the most important contemporary sociological concepts: differentialist racism developed by theorists E. Balibar and I. Wallerstein. The problem of racial minorities varies from society to society, from one historic period to another, changing the basic problems of these societies. At first glance, modern racism does not assert the superiority of some groups or people over others, but only advocates against abolishing the borders. The different migrants groups may or may not recognize the equality and diversity, which influence the value of the polyphony of cultures and is essential for the human civilization. The paper will include the studies of neo-racism theories related to the tendency of people to preserve both their traditions and their identity.

2. The study of this concept is possible within the framework of multiple and complex compositions of the community to which individuals belong, and the values they share, which indicate their allegiance. Including the racial identities of Berkeley University as the main source of empirical data will provide the background of this paper. Interviews within the college will be conducted to meet this goal. Educational facility helps to define the social identity of the individual, including the cultural identities of his or her parents. All migrant communities are historical structures that are in a constant process of historical reconstruction. College will serve as the perfect place for the study because it is a society in itself: people tend to preserve the bonds of loyalty and identity, which, on the one hand, is primarily a reflection of their ideologies. On the other hand, they are in the opposition to other smaller groups, such as students of other religions or nations. Video interviews conducted with the students will help to reveal the nature of their identities and their relation to other racial identities.

3. As it was mentioned before, individuals construct social reality in the context of social interaction, based on their own ideas and views of others that are manifested in the relationships with them. The following network can show the relation of racial and migrant minorities to the population. Applying the concept of differentialist racism will help to identify the extremes during t interviews conducted with participants. This approach will reveal the existing issues of racial and migrant minorities and the values which they represent through their cultural background: 1) positive - positive real identity; 2) negative - the acquisition of identity through the negation of belonging to a community; 3) perfect - identity as a desire to be included in the community. Thus, while conducting interviews, these three variants can be used for the conclusions. The research will also include video of the interviews to provide viewer with the emotional background and can serve as a short documentary.

4. To study this complex and broad topic two additional sources should be taken into consideration. The first is Is There a 'Neo-Racism by Etienne Balibar, which discusses the important reasons that led to the emergence of such a type of racism. She describes political issues as well as the prehistory to the existence of this issue connected with sociological identity. The second significant work is the book Europe's New Racism: Causes, Manifestations, and Solutions, which also describes this issue from another perspective. The author examines the experience of France dealing with this problem and the outcomes of the discussions of sociologists. It is important to mention this in a paper because it broadens perspective and provides empirical evidence, apart from theoretical arguments.